I'm returning to EQ after quite a long break. I quit not long after PoP came out and the last content I was working on was PoEarth flagging and such. I played a 65 Cleric and a 56 Bard. That account I'm afraid is long gone and I'm looking to start fresh anyway.

I've never played a druid, but as a Cleric I always wanted to. The variety of skills a druid has provides for so much different style of gameplay that I think it would be a very fun class.

y biggest concern is if I can catch up by leveling the old fashioned way. I play on the Zek server and no one I knew from back then still plays, or they are on characters I do not know. I don't have any higher level friends to power level me through anything, and I might just as much prefer to level on my own if it were at all possible. I want to one day be in a the higher tier raiding guilds and I'm worried that it might not be possible at the rate I expect to level.

I have already started playing and as I expected the game is much different. My druid is only 10 and my memory is very fuzzy on where I leveled my old characters, and I assume those memories would be pretty useless in the new content. I was wondering if there is any sort of guide on where to level in all of these new zones or if anyone could point me in the right direction post 20.

I haven't done too much research on the new content and how they changed the game to benefit new players yet, so any advice would be helpful.

You will find that druids are one the easiest to xp at the higher levels. If you have any plat on your account then I'd suggest buying some defiant armor, appropriate for your level or slightly higher, in the bazaar. This is excellent gear for low-mid level toons as it covers most of the essential focus effects. I can't stress this enough...get the defiant gear. Nothing else compares to it with a few exceptions. It drops all over Norrath so you may not have to buy it all. If you do decide to buy this gear then don't be afraid to buy some gear higher than your level and store it in the bank until you can use it. You will fly through the first 25-30 levels anyway. If you can afford it, buy some damage shield potions for those lower levels....they stack with your own damage shields.

As for leveling, I would stick to crescent reach, until the mobs become trivial. Then move to Blightfire Moors for the next few levels. Also look into the serpent seeker's charm of lore and the wanderlust charm aug quests. The can be started at a low level and as you progress they can be upgraded. Here is where it becomes more difficult. Leveling from 35-60 is still kind of slow for druids. For this I would stick to old world zones (preferrably the hot zones....augs drop in the old and new hot zones as well) as they were designed for toons with lesser gear and they have lower hp. The hot zones yield a much better chance for you to find a group, as well and you will find grouping at these levels much easier than soloing. As you progress through these levels save all the defiant leather gear you can't use yet and sell or trade everything else. You will make a little bit of PP this way. Once you hit 65 you will find alot of really cheap gear in the bazaar.

When you reach the level where you can purchase the innate camo and entrap aa's...do so. It is important to buy BOTH tiers of entrap. It's alot of aa's, but this is gonna make the mad dash to 80 so much easier (85 will be the goal come november). Now it's time to charm kite :grin: . I used to hate this method, but once I got used to it the aa's started pouring in and I don't have to go LFG for hours on end. This is by far the best way to xp from 70 on. The three zones I find the best to this are The Steppes, then Icefall Glacier, and after that Loping Plains. What you want to do is cast entrap then glamor of tunare on a few ANIMAL mobs. Start with 3 or 4 until you become comfortable with this, then as you settle in you will be able to handle much larger numbers. After you have snared and debuffed them, charm one and send it in. Just before your pet dies cast innate camo to break charm. Now you either throw a dot/nuke on your old pet and kill it..or you can charm another and send it in after the one you had previously charmed. Repeat this until you have killed them all then go after some more. This will let you quickly gain the aa count needed if you want to apply to a high-end raid guild. I am sure there are places you can use this method in the mid-levels, but I don't know what they are and you don't have and insta-cast invis to break charm.

I know this doesn't cover everything, but it will help you out some.
:wavey:

can do some charmkiting in PoNightmare as well :P I did that back in the days